Camden Street Fair (aka "Blow me Down)

Well - what a beautiful morning it was!

I was so excited about getting to the street fair and getting set up - we were up at 6 to pack the car and get down there - tons of stuff to set up.

So, as I said we got there early - really excited by the location - one of the busiest spots on Argyle Street - guaranteed to have a crowd! And I must say, I was really pleased with the way the display turned out. The tent was like a giant soft box - just perfect for mini portrait sessions!
Unfortunately - I forgot to take the sign telling people they could come in for a free portrait! Oh well - still lots of people around. Several inquiries for family portrait sittings and wedding photography, so all in all we were going really well. Aside from the humungous obnoxious loudspeaker located directly in front of our tent which required me to yell at almost every potential customer. They were yelling back though, so I think they understood :)

The day was incredibly hot, I was dressed so wrong - I had my comfy red shoes on but they're really a winter thing and way too warm. I welcomed the cool change that came after 1. Ok, so the sun went away, but it wasn't quite so hot and we thought that was pretty good too. I went and got us a couple of iced coffees (Voltage) for a little pick up to get us through the last couple of hours.

Around 2 I said to Brian "we'll start packing up the little stuff about 2:30, and we should be ready to take the tent down spot on 3pm". Good plan. Didn't eventuate.

You see, about 5 minutes after that we felt a few gentle drops of rain. No worries - we're in a tent. We just pulled the big banner inside, and the big framed 20x30 in print that you can see on the easel there. It all fit nicely inside the tent - no worries - it was only light rain after all.

As we were calmly finishing our Voltages from Gloria Jeans (yummy yummy, and they were particularly strong. Good - we needed the caffeine), we heard a rumble of thunder. Wow - that was close ...

Then the tornado hit. Or cyclone. Or whatever the @#$ it was. But I feel I have more in common with Dorothy from Wizard of Oz than a pair of red shoes.

I'm not sure if any of you have ever seen a 3x3 metre tent lifted off the ground - I'm sorry to say that now I have. And it must have been quite a sight for the spectators watching as it almost carried me away. We were on opposite sides of the tent trying to keep it on the ground - yelling over the huge wind that came up from nowhere.

Things deteriorated very quickly after that. As I was holding down one side of the tent, trying to keep it from crashing into the screaming girl in the tent beside us, Brian was trying to hold down the other side with one hand, keep the banner from crashing with a foot - grabbing the centre post for support (and to keep from becoming airborne). Really, there wasn't much we could do about it when the big 20x30 inch framed print of Will and Keina came crashing down ... and poor little Marlena dancing in her wedding dress was flattened. Talk about Trash the Dress ...

Finally, when it seemed like we were about to lift off for real, a man emerged from the crowd and anchored himself to the centre of the tent. (Thank you whoever you are - we owe you big time). With his help we started ripping down the sides of the tent, to prevent some of the sail-like action that was going on. It mightn't have been so bad if it weren't for the torrential rain ....

Totally out of control - I just held onto the tent with the stranger, while Brian ran back and forth taking stuff away from the street to the relative shelter of the footpath. Camera gear, easels, damaged displays, background cloths, brochures, credit card slips, mobile phones ... all sitting in a giant amorphous wet mass in front of Blooms.

Finally a policewoman came along, and with her help we finally got it all under control. So glad she didn't hurt herself when she went sliding along the street on one of my plastic display signs. Nobody hurt seriously - prints damaged, tent destroyed, glow gone. As we were loading the car with sodden cloths and cameras and easels, the sun came out. Wonderful ....

After folding Marlena several times (too damaged to keep) and shoving her into a bin, I clicked my heels 3 times, and was transported home.

Will be frantically ordering more prints and frames tomorrow to replace my damaged display - Wedding Expo at Sweeneys next Sunday. INDOORS.

MMMM Yummy!

We just returned from a fantastic week in Tasmania - got back at almost midnight Saturday night. Exhausted but tons of photos!

But, this blog isn't about Tassie ... :)

We find it difficult to resist good food and wine. Accompany that by a little music, and we're completely powerless, so as exhausted as we were, yesterday we headed off to the Food, Wine and Music Festival at Belgenny Reserve (part of Camden Festival - we'll have a booth at the Lions Street Fair next Sunday!)

After having a chat with Rebecca and the team from Youth Solutions - who tested my ability to judge a standard drink (yay, I passed!) - we wandered around and checked out all the great stuff on offer.



We met so many lovely people there, we ate, we drank, we danced in our seats on the grass listening to the music ... too tired to actually get up and boogie - but that didn't stop the kids - they were right up in front of the stage shaking their little backsides along with the band - Heaven Can Wait.
Mmmmmm, delicious!
Fresh Lemonade and Crunchy Belgian Chips with Dutch Mayonnaise, served with a smile :) No idea what made them so European, but they sure tasted good in Camden!



The chips and lemonade weren't quite enough though, so we made sure we got to every booth we could! Tasted some really yummy wines, from Belgenny Farm & Wollombi Wines (Wollombi also make a yummy Semillon Chili Sauce - highly recommended!), and ate some more .... sausage sandwich and chorizo and chicken skewer ... Proper diet is all about balance you know - we needed a variety of food to go with the variety of wines. (Plus, after a week in Tassie, we had no groceries in the house for lunch!)

It was a really hot day, but we had a wonderful time. And we finished the day with dinner prepared with some ingredients bought at the festival!



Chicken marinated with Lime and Chili Dressing from Ebony Hall Gourmet Food (their dressings are an absolute bargain - go get them at Cobbity Markets!!!), a little more dressing on the salad, and complemented by a nice cold rose from Razorback Ridge Wines.

Yummy, yummy day :)


(Oh, and that's one of the kids in the background wearing his t-shirt from Youth Solutions - thanks girls :)

Portrait Quickie

I attended the BRAS Women in Business Symposium on Thursday at the Campbelltown Catholic Club. Had a great time - the BRAS Network ladies organized a fantastic lineup of inspiring and educational speakers.

I had a quick portrait session (like 2 minutes...) with Sandra Walden Pearson from Best Me Consulting. Sandra wanted some headshots for editorial and promotional use. She's got a great natural smile, and really lights up a room when she's presenting. If you ever get the chance to listen to her speak I'd advise you to go! My favorite shot from our session is this black and white - one of the best things about Sandra is how genuinely friendly and open she is - you can see that from the way that smile reaches her eyes :)

I'll be posting more about the Women in Business Symposium soon.